cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/18147280
X, the social media platform owned by Trump megadonor Elon Musk, is promoting Trump campaign-curated content to all U.S. users, regardless of whether they have opted out of Trump-related content.
On the platform formerly known as Twitter, banner ads for the Trump campaign donning the #Trump2024 tag appear for all U.S. users, even those who’ve blocked words, topics, and hashtags related to the candidate or his campaign or muted the advertiser.
Additionally, the #MAGA tag displays an edited image of the former president from his attempted assassination and the #Trump2024 hashtag displays an American flag.
It is unclear whether the Trump campaign paid for the images on the #Trump2024 and #MAGA tags, though an advertisement for the tag on the site’s trending page reads “Promoted by Team Trump.” As Mashable noted, it is the first time the platform has enabled the image feature to promote a specific political candidate.
Clicking the Trump2024 tag also prompts American flag graphics to flood the screen.
The biggest fear I have for the country is seeing peoples inability to just stop using things that are being enshittified that are completely optional. I get people have to bank and shop for food and such but no one needs to be using social media or streaming or any crappy internet stuff.
This is the argument I always see: “But all my friends and favorite content creators are there!”
Okay, get new online friends, and write to your favorite creators that they should switch to Mastodon. Hell, switch to Bluesky. But every interaction is a bit of data, a bit of engagement, that Elon can show to advertisers to entice them to buy multi-million dollar ad packages.
I stopped using whatsapp because fuck facebook. All my friends are like: yeah, i wish, but everyone i know uses whatsapp. That is a very good argument that i haven’t thought off. Same with twitter people. Oh i totally see how much it must suck if you don’t know what kind shit the rock is trying to sell you.